India defeated Australia in their final league game in the world T20 2014 to enter the semi finals undefeated.

India defeated Australia in their final league game in the world T20 2014 to enter the semi finals undefeated. The Indian bowlers restricted the Aussie batsmen to a paltry total of 86 as they won by 73 runs. Indian bowlers once again proved their worth in the tournament as they restricted another world-class batting attack under difficult conditions to a subpar score.

Chasing a total of 160, the Australians got off to a bad start just like the Indians as they lost their first wicket in the fourth over to Ashwin. However it was Bhuvaneshwar Kumar who applied the pressure early on, and even though he was struck for a boundary on the first delivery of his bowling spell, he gave away just 7 runs off his 3 overs, picking up the all important wicket of Cameroon white.

Ravichandran Ashwin however won his second man of the match award in a row and literally destroyed the Australian batting line up, picking up the wickets of Warner, Finch and Maxwell for next to nothing. He ended up with figures of 4/11. Every Indian bowler created problems for the Australian batsmen as they looked equally clueless against seam as they were against pace. The bowlers picked up wickets at regular interval and kept the scoring rate in check.

The main positive however coming out of this game would be the form of Yuvraj Singh. MS Dhoni’s perseverance with the elegant southpaw finally paid off as he returned to form when India needed him the most and the confidence from this game would prove to be very useful for the next game. He was the only problem for the Indians in the tournament so far, and his return in form would solve many a problems for the Indian captain.

Earlier, with the help of Yuvi’s 60, India scored a total of +159 after being in trouble at one point when they were 4 down for a score of 66. He added 84 runs of 42 deliveries with captain MS Dhoni. India would now face South Africa in the semifinals, unless the game between Sri Lanka and New Zealand ends in a draw. Looking at the current form of the Indian spinners and since the batting looks a lot stronger now, it should be India entering as the favorites in that game.